Friday, October 28, 2011

DRIED FIG TORTE - A GUEST POST BY PETER FROM "SOUVLAKI FOR THE SOUL"

Today, I have decided to interrupt my little holiday hiatus in order to present to you a Australian blogger who lives in the inner city of Sydney (New South wales) and whom I admire a lot. Peter Georgakopulos is of Greek descent and is the talented man behind the uniquely amazing blog "Souvlaki For The Soul".

I have been a big fan of his since a quite a while (a few years at least) and have seen how he developped his skills in order to become the accomplished cook and photographer that he is now. Peter's pictures are perfectly staged, full of personality and sensitivity, mindblowingly beautiful as well as gorgeously moody, and the Greek-inspired recipes are always refined in their apparent simplicity and homeliness, absolutely tempting and straight-forward. There is a certain sincerity, brilliance, zenitude and peacefulness behind his magazine-like creations.

Needless to say that I am extremely thrilled by the prospect of sharing one of his lovely posts on Rosa's Yummy Yums as it is a real honor as well as pleasure for me to introduce him to you, dear readers and to be able to host his remarkable work here.

Thank you so much, Peter!As usual, you have outdone yourself. This irresistible torte is fabulous and your clicks are just out-of-this-world.

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I’m very excited and honoured to be doing a guest post on Rosa’s blog today! I know it's been said like a million times but the Internet really has the power to connect people in the most unusual ways. Here I am-an Australian of Greek descent writing for a blog colleague and friend of Swiss/Anglo descent in Switzerland! You’ve got to love the times we live in!

However, I'm not here to ramble on about social media and the like. I'm here to share a recipe with Rosa and all her wonderful readers. I know Rosa loves Middle Eastern and Turkish foods. And I also know how she loves a sweet treat every know and then. Just take a look at her stunning recipe for "Viennese Sachertorte" or her delightful "Spicy Dasmson Plum Roly Poly! So, I thought I'd make myself comfortable in her blog and share with you a recipe for my dried fig torte.

There's something quite magical and even sensual about eating figs. Every time I bite into one, it's like I'm biting into a piece of honeycomb. I adore their natural, sweet taste. What I enjoy even more are dried figs. Once these morsels have been kissed by the sun they take on a stronger, caramelised flavour. It's this intensity that drives my taste buds crazy. They're great to snack on, fantastic with yoghurt for breakfast and they provide a great ending to a dinner party when presented with a cheese platter. You gotta love their versatility!

I have to admit I'm a bit of a “cake man”. Give me a slice of cake with a little whipped cream and I'm a happy camper. This "Dried Fig Torte" is just perfect with a nice “cuppa” in the afternoon. The batter uses a little almond meal to make it moist and the part I love the most is taking a bite and finding bits of dried figs in the mix. Pair it up with some whipped cream that has been blended with ground cinnamon, serve it with a good drop of muscatel dessert wine and you have nirvana!

Just a note: I used “Greek” dried figs for this recipe (I sourced these at a local shop). If you can't use dried figs then use fresh ones or some other dried fruit. The cake itself is quite accommodating to any flavour. That's the beauty of it. Hope you enjoy the cake Rosa!

I just saw this on Peter's website. It looks so delicious, although I wanted to ask.....do you think it would still work with all almond meal (as I am sadly gluten intolerant and gluten free flour tastes horrible)?

Two of my favourite food bloggers and friends and priviledged to have personally met both of them. Yes, blogging is great. The cake sounds amazing and figs are my favourite. Unfortunately this year I had to stay away from them due to diet, as they are high in calories.

So nice to see you here too Peter and isn't the internet an amazing thing? I love the way it connects people around the world in ways I wouldn't have thought possible not too long ago!Love this fig torte!

I love Peter's blog and have been reading it for some time now too. Figs go so well in cakes such as this, I often make my Dad Vanilla & Fig cupcakes for his birthday, but I think this will have to be the cake I bake next year!

TRISH: Thanks for passing by and for the comment. Well, I'm not too sure it would work only when made with almond flour, but I guess you could try... Maybe you could try using another kind of flour (gluten-free) like buckwheat flour or cornflour (check that link: http://www.wheat-free.org/wheat-free-flour.html). I hope that helps...